The priestly attired agents finally made it to St. Peter's Square within Vatican city and slowly maneuvered their way through the throngs of people gathered there.
Solo and Kuryakin's destination was actually northeast of St. Peter's Basilica, next to the Bastion of Nicholas V and the Palace of Gregory XIII.
The Apostolic Palace was a complex comprised of several Papal Apartments, the Vatican Museums, some of the Catholic Church's government offices, the Vatican Library, and a number of both private and public chapels among other buildings. Generally, there were over 1000 rooms within it.
Despite the Apostolic Palace name, it was not merely the pope's residence. It was also used for other administrative functions of the Holy See. There were several administrative offices there which were used government functions of the Vatican State. In many ways the Apostolic Palace could be compared with the White House.
Once showing their passes which allowed them access, Napoleon and Illya were directed to Cardinal Spellerman's apartments.
They'd never met the man nor he them; the agents however, had their prearranged passcode. It was more for the comfort of the Cardinal than Solo and Kuryakin.
They knocked on the door and waited.
"Who is it?" A rather cheerful voice answered.
"Mr. Oliver and Mr. Hardy sir."
"Well tut-tut-tut-tut-tar-utt," came the response and the door was opened to them.
"Welcome gentlemen, you must pardon the humor, but it's needed from time to time."
The Cardinal stood smiling, yet clothed in his regal robes as well as a heavy gold ecclesiastical cross containing five large emerald-cut emeralds.
Napoleon had seen him from a distance while attending Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral back in New York. He always stayed at the back of the church, as the agent training made him want to be by a door for a quick getaway. It was habit, and not a conscious decision on his part.
Cardinal Spellerman was a portly bespectacled, jowly looking man who some thought was rather cherubic and humble.
He had a ready smile but behind his seemingly pius façade there was a shrewd, almost ruthless player on the world stage of religion and politics; he had no qualms about fighting to get what he wanted.
He'd been described as fearless, tireless, and shrewd, but at the same time humble, whimsical, sentimental, thoughtful, supremely loyal but, above all, a true priest.
Julius Cardinal Spellerman was complex individual who was both a seeker and wielder of power; others playing the same game had to take that into account and respect him.
There was another side to the man of which Illya was unaware, the Cardinal showed that as much as he loved the red of the cardinal's robe, he loved the red, white and blue. He was an ardent American patriot, and staunchly anti-Communist. He'd been a fervent supporter of Joseph McCarthy.
Napoleon suspected that in part influenced the decision to have Illya work with the Polish Cardinal, even though Spellerman could have had the two of them as his conclavists.
The Cardinal offered his right hand to the American, and Napoleon genuflected on his left knee, kissing the large gold and emerald ring.
His Catholic upbringing told him it was proper etiquette to use the left knee, as the right knee was reserved for God and the left, for God's workers. It was just a quick movement, a sign of respect and honor.
It came from the days of kings and queens, but the Catholic Church was a Hierarchy, ( a good one and not like the Hierarchy of T.H.R.U.S.H.) so the Pope was the equivalent of an emperor, the cardinals- kings, and the bishops- lords.
It was a sign of great reverence towards the men who had given their lives to the Church. By kneeling before these representatives and kissing their rings, which was the symbol of their authority, one acknowledged their appointments by Christ Himself and showed respect to Jesus who dwells within them.
This symbolic gesture toward an authority was no different than when Americans rise when their President enters a room, or when the British rise when the Queen of England, or when any head of any state entered a room.
Here in Italy the papacy was the closest thing there was to a monarchy.
"Napoleon Solo, your Eminence, though for our mission I am Father Nero Cesare your assistant from New York."
He rose quickly, and stepped aside for his partner, but Illya didn't kneel, nor did the Cardinal extend his hand to him.
"My partner your Eminence, this is Mr. Illya Kuryakin, however his cover name for our assignment is Father Ilia Kumiega."
The Cardinal nodded,"I hope you weren't offended that I did not offer you my ring. It is my understanding that you are an atheist Mr. Kuryakin."
"No offense taken your Eminence. I attended Orthodox services as a child but that was... a lifetime ago. The Great Patriotic war saw an end to those beliefs, as did my upbringing by the Soviet system."
"I understand you were orphaned my son. You'll have to pardon me, but I felt a little homework on my part was in order."
"That is correct. An orphan has no need for god when you are scrounging for food and worrying about bullies stealing your meal, or how many beatings they will give you for not surrendering it. There was no savior to come to your aid, or answers to prayers whispered in desperation."
"Ahh, but that is the past young man and we should all be willing open to open our hearts to the possibility that there is indeed God the father, Jesus His only Son as well as the Holy Spirit to watch over us. The Holy Trinity is a matter of faith, believing in something you cannot see, but surely we can see God all around us each day when the sun rises, when the birds fly and the flowers bloom. God is the artist and we all are a part of His great canvas. He works in mysterious ways, ways that we cannot understand and are not meant to do so. Things happen for a reason and we must have faith as to why, as well as their outcome."
Napoleon tensed up, thinking his partner and the Cardinal were going to end up in some sort of heated discussion on the existence of God.
He watched as Illya merely nodded before finally speaking.
"We each have our ways and if there is a god, I think he is laughing at our concerns over who believes in him and who does not. In the end, you believe when we leave this world that it will be up to the divine creator who decides who is deserving of entering heaven, regardless of what a person has done or said. If a man who does not believe in god lives a good life, does good deeds and is kind to others, will he not be judged as deserving of heaven...if it exists? The next man who believes in god, goes to church every Sunday but was not so good or kind to his fellow man, what of him? Would he be deserving as well simply because he believed in god and attended services?"
"Why Mr. Kuryakin, if I didn't know better, I might suspect that you still have a bit of a belief in a higher power left in you, but that is neither here nor there. We have to sit down and talk about the candidates for the papacy. That is our main concern for now."
"Agreed sir," Illya nodded.
Napoleon breathed a sigh of relief just as knock sounded on the Cardinal's door.
A heavily accented voice called, just above a whisper.
"Julius, it is Wiśniewski ."
Napoleon, after receiving a nod of approval from Spellerman quickly opened the door and let in the Cardinal.
"Gentlemen, may I present Szymon Cardinal Wiśniewski, of Poland."
He was silver haired, and had rather hawkish features, but his steely grey eyes reminded Napoleon very much of his partner's visage.
The same protocol was followed in greeting the Polish prelate, as both agents were introduced and instead of offering his ring to Illya, he spoke to him in Russian and exchanged pleasantries as well as shook hands with Kuryakin.
Illya was well aware of the man's anti-communist sentiments, and given his own change in outlook on the subject of the Soviet Union, he felt the cardinal's beliefs were not unwarranted, though surprisingly nationalistic for a man of the cloth.
The cardinal had pronounced ten years prior that ' the fate of communism would not be decided in Russia, but in Poland. When she became strong in her faith she would start to destroy communism and win over it. The whole world would be grateful to Poland for that.'
Kuryakin kept those thoughts to himself, as he was not here to judge the man nor get into any political discussions with him; they were here to stop the Hierarchy from taking control of one of the most powerful and widespread organizations in the entire world, and that was the Catholic Church.
If THRUSH were able to infiltrate the church, they could influence the way people thought and believed little by little, and have the coffers through which to do it.
"Now that we're all here, let's have a drink, sit down and go over who's thought to be the favored papabile. "
Cardinal Spellerman poured a scotch for himself and Szymon, but the agents declined.
"This will be the largest conclave ever assembled to elect a pope with eighty cardinals. There would have been eighty-two but owing to his house arrest József Mindszenty could not travel to Rome, while Carlos Maria de la Torre will not participate due to his advanced age and chronic health problems. Of the cardinals who will participate, eight were elevated by Pope Pius XI I , twenty-seven by Pius XII, and the remainder by the recently deceased John XXIII. Each will look to the candidate elevated by the pontiff who they themselves were made Cardinal."
"I would think that would narrow the numbers dramatically," Napoleon said.
"The first men whose names have come up in discussion are Leo Joseph Suenens of Mechelen of Brussels and Franz Konig of Vienna," Spellerman began,"though since they're not Italian, the chances of them being elected are slim. Rome always favors the Italians."
"Yes, I believe the last non-Italian elected was Adrian VI, born Adriaan Floriszoon Boeyens, a Dutchman who held the office from 1522 to 1523 for a total of 1 year and 248 days."
"Very good Mr. Kuryakin, you've done your homework," Spellerman nodded with a smile.
Napoleon couldn't help but interject."My partner has a photographic memory and remembers anything he reads."
Illya qualified that statement,"Most people with eidetic memories have the ability to vividly recall images from memory after only a few instances of exposure with high precision for a brief time after exposure, without using a mnemonic device. I however, remember most everything I read and retain it."
Neither cardinal reacted, and went back to the topic at hand.
"There is Cardinal Giuseppe Montini," Wiśniewski added, "but he is a very humble man and in our discussions he has expressed a hesitancy at his name being brought into consideration. There is also Cardinal Grégoire-Pierre Agagianian the former Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia, Cardinal Giuseppe Siriano of Bologna and Pietro Lercaro of Genoa.
"Backgrounds on these men have been put together rather hastily I'm afraid since these are the names that until only recently have come up in discussion, though a few have been in the running since befo re Pope John's passing." Cardinal Spellerman held up a manila folder.
"Could there be more favorites added to this list?" Illya asked.
He thumbed through the dossiers, focusing on the Italians. That narrowed down the field to just three names, Montini, Siriano and Lecaro if they stuck to the Italians only theory.
The others, as Cardinal Spellerman had indicated were most likely out of the running since historically no non-Italian has ever been elected Pope.
Still one never knew, as there was always was an outside chance their man could be Suenens, König, or Agagianian as THRUSH never followed the rules after all.
"Thank you your Eminence," Illya said."There will not be much time to study their backgrounds. "Napoleon and I will have a late night in order to sift through this information for any clues."
"But first we must attend to Vespers before retiring for the evening," Szymon said.
"Vespers? I am unfamiliar with that, is it a ceremony and how long will it take?" Illya looked between Szymon and Napoleon.
"Tovarisch, it's a service of evening prayers, though I've never attended vespers myself," Napoleon answered.
"It lasts approximately an hour, longer if there is a Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament . " Szymon said." We will be up early in the morning for a special votive mass in the Pauline Chapel here in the Apostolic Palace to pray for the election for the new pope. After which the procession from the Pauline to the Sistine Chapel will take place and the conclave will begin, but I am getting ahead of myself. Tonight we pray."
Cardinal Wiśniewski pulled Illya aside, speaking in Russian again.
" Perhaps a more detailed explanation of Vespers will help you, how do you say…fake it?"
That gave Kuryakin pause to let a small smile to escape.
" Vespers, Mr. Kurya...ummm Father Kumeiga, opens with the singing or chanting of the words 'Deus, in adiutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Alleluia.' In English, 'O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia.'
" Your Eminence, I understand a fair amount of Latin, " Illya whispered.
"Oh, excellent...well then, the appointed hymn is then sung. After the psalms, there is a reading from the Bible. Following the reading, there is a short responsory consisting of a verse, a response, the first half only of the Gloria Patri, and then the verse again. Then the participants sing the Magnificat — the canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Gospel of Luke 1:46-55. The prayers are then said, followed by the Our Father, and then the closing oratio.
The office is frequently followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament which is the actual benediction or blessing follows exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, that is, the placing of the consecrated Host in a monstrance set upon the al tar. The blessing with the Eucharist is preceded by a reasonable time for readings of the word of God, songs, prayers, and a period for silent prayer." The readings, songs and prayers are meant to direct attention to worship of Christ in the Eucharist….
" Your Eminence, please, I do not need to know the purpose of the various aspects of the ceremony; I need just enough detail to look like I know what is going on. Will there be some sort of prayer book to follow? I do read Latin as well."
" Oh? I understand. Yes there will be prayer books. The hymns in Latin traditionally sung during the exposition which are O Salutaris Hostia, Tantum Ergo, Laudate Dominum and Ave verum corpus. There will be hymnals containing the words to these but as to the melody...that you will, well perhaps you can just mouth the words ?"
Illya smiled for a second time before switching to Polish.
"I will endeavor to do so. Thank you for your instruction, now I think it is time we ready ourselves before the evening's festivities."
He and Solo retired to their room located near the Cardinal's quarters. As their assistants they would have to be nearby to see to both men.
Illya pondered about the Vespers, as well as all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the election of a new Pontiff. It was tedious as well as pure decadence and seemed more of a spectacle leading up to the actual gathering of the Cardinals. He shook his head at the opulence, and the perceived piety of the men tasked with electing their new spiritual leader.
The Orthodox church had its own decadence he supposed. Illya recalled the beautiful iconostasis and decoration within St. Andrew's church in Kyiv. His recollections were that of a child but still they were warm memories attached to that church, perhaps because he was there with his family.
After Illya sat on his bed, he put on his spectacles and began to read the dossiers they'd been given.
"You okay tovarisch? You seem awfully quiet."
"I am fine, just a lot of information to absorb, plus we need to divine who is the infiltrator. Napoleon, there might be more than one, a co-conspirator perhaps?"
He smiled at his partner's unintended pun. "I was thinking the same thing. I'm Catholic but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of this. To think I'm going to be privy to the election of the next leader of the Catholic church. It's leaving me in awe, but it won't prevent me from doing what has to be done, that that I promise you."